Name: The owner of luxury jewelry store Grew & Co has sent an embarrassing text message to an employee - as he is ordered to pay record damages over an Australian sexual harassment lawsuit - WSTPost
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The owner of luxury jewelry store Grew & Co has sent an embarrassing text message to an employee - as he is ordered to pay record damages over an Australian sexual harassment lawsuit - WSTPost

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A Sydney jeweler and his company have been ordered to pay a record $268,000 in damages after a judge found he sexually harassed a female employee.Fiona Taylor, 35, claimed she was harassed by Grew &amp; Co owner Simon Grew, 45, over a period of almost two years when she worked at the store on Kent St in Sydney’s CBD.Ms Taylor began working for the renowned jeweler in January 2018, but did not return to the office after August 2020, when she lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).A recent ruling by Federal Judge Anna Katzmann found that Mr. Grew had harassed Ms. Taylor when he “smacked her on the bottom” in 2019 and when he confessed his feelings for her twice in 2020.Ms Taylor claimed Mr Grew was standing in the doorway of the shop and as she walked past him he slapped her once on the buttocks.“She felt “extremely uncomfortable,” laughed “in shock,” and found the incident “quite overwhelming,” Judge Katzmann said in her findings.Fiona Taylor, 35, claimed she was harassed for almost two years by Grew &amp; Co owner Simon Grew (above), 45, while she worked for the company in Sydney’s CBDMs Taylor said she did not complain at the time because there was no human resources department and she would have had to complain to Mr Grew himself.Mr Grew denied the claim and said as she turned away from him his hand accidentally brushed the back of her dress, for which he apologized.Judge Katzmann also found that Mr Grew had showered Ms Taylor with expensive gifts since late 2018 – around the time he separated from his wife.He also gave gifts to other employees, but not to the extent that he gave gifts to Ms. Taylor.She claimed he gave her 19 unsolicited and unwelcome gifts. Mr Grew said only some gifts may have been unsolicited.The gifts included silver and gold jewelry, a Michael Kors bomber jacket, a $200 Mecca gift card, a Chanel purse and $2,000 in cash, which crew said was an early Christmas bonus .“I definitely started to feel anxious. I felt somehow trapped. “I didn’t know how — well, what to do,” Ms. Taylor said.According to a ruling, Mr Grew had written to a colleague in 2019 that it was “so easy to travel with Ms Taylor”.Pictured is another text that Mr Grew sent to Ms Taylor and which is set out in the judgment“He always presented it in such a way that I couldn’t say no, otherwise it would be pretty rude to say no.”“So, yeah, I felt like I was in a really tough spot, that I had to appease my boss in order to keep my job.”In January 2020, Mr Grew told Ms Taylor that he had romantic feelings for her even though she was in a relationship.The court heard evidence that Mr Grew said he could no longer keep his feelings to himself and said Ms Taylor was “the most beautiful woman I have ever seen”.“We get along so well, we like the same things.” My children don’t need a mother, they need a friend. “We can run the company together, or if you want to start your own company, I can help you with that,” he said.Judge Katzmann said Ms Taylor was “overwhelmed by the revelation”.“Ms Taylor made it clear to him that she was not interested in a romantic relationship with him,” Judge Katzmann said.The next month, Ms. Taylor sent her boss a text message telling her that they needed to set boundaries in advance of their business trip to Arizona.Mr Grew also said in another message that Ms Taylor was “perfect”.In June that year, Mr Grew was driving Ms Taylor home when he confessed his feelings for her a second time.“During the conversation, Mr. Grew told her that he would ‘fight a tiger’ for her,” the findings say.Ms. Taylor complained that Mr. Grew sexually harassed her in August 2020. In September she filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.Mr Grew admitted that he was attracted to Ms Taylor but denied that his behavior was sexual or that he had made sexual advances towards her.Judge Katzmann also found that Mr Grew had made “unsolicited statements” to Ms Taylor between October and December 2019.These included “You have a really nice body,” “You have a nice body,” and “You have bedroom eyes.”Ms. Taylor received $140,000 for the sexual harassment and $40,000 for the victimization.She was also recognized for past and future economic and pension losses.This is the highest amount of damages awarded in a sexual harassment case under the Sex Discrimination Act.Judge Katzmann noted that she has since become socially withdrawn and suffers from sleep disorders.

A Sydney jeweler and his company have been ordered to pay a record $268,000 in damages after a judge found he sexually harassed a female employee.Fiona Taylor, 35, claimed she was harassed by Grew &amp; Co owner Simon Grew, 45, over a period of almost two years when she worked at the store on Kent St in Sydney’s CBD.Ms Taylor began working for the renowned jeweler in January 2018, but did not return to the office after August 2020, when she lodged a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).A recent ruling by Federal Judge Anna Katzmann found that Mr. Grew had harassed...

The owner of luxury jewelry store Grew & Co has sent an embarrassing text message to an employee - as he is ordered to pay record damages over an Australian sexual harassment lawsuit - WSTPost

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